They talk about the sea lion Galapagos welcoming committee, but our welcome took the form of red-footed boobies. Three more joined our pulpit sentinel. They took up residence 200 miles out and settled in for…

Wreck Bay at Puerto Moreno is a pretty little harbour open only to the NW. With constant southerly winds it is a secure anchorage. There are many small local boats, some cruise ships and two…

Elegant, agile and curious, sea lions own this harbour. You can’t leave a dinghy in the water because they will be aboard it within minutes. 1,000 of them inhabit the bay and they have taken…

It has been a quiet week. Tainui is the only yacht in the bay and I have had few interruptions to the business of boat maintenance, repair and drug abuse. With a constant offshore (southerly)…

If you ask me, solipsism is alright in small doses, but I prefer to share it. To paraphrase HW Tilman, what I want is silence, but not too much of it. 3 weeks in Puerto…

Well, we’re well settled into the cruising mode. After and omlettes with Anna’s fresh baked bread for breakfast, we fell into the dinghy for a snorkelling trip into a channel between the islets. A parks…

They are not nature’s loveliest creatures, but they deserve our sympathy and support. Here on Isabela they have 2 problems. First, El Nino has warmed the waters hereabouts by up to 2 degrees. That has…

If you ask me, solipsism is alright in small doses, but I prefer to share mine. To paraphrase HW Tilman, what I want is silence, but not too much of it. 3 weeks in Puerto…

Well, we’re well settled into the cruising mode. After breakfast omlettes with Anna’s fresh baked bread, we fell into the dinghy for snorkelling in a channel between the islets. A parks official tried to chase…

Senescence is a wily beast, constantly creeping up. While I am still immortal, as I approach my 8th decade I am feeling progressively less so. It is 9 years since Tainui crossed the Southern Ocean.…

Our 40 mile passage back to Academy Bay was a delight – a fast close fetch south of the islands, over smooth seas. A solitary whale sounded, rafts of storm petrels flitted about and manta…

There are no other yachts here now, and beyond wildlife the little town of Puerto Villamil on Isabela has limited offerings. But there are surfers and an occasional backpacker who come out in the evenings…

  Day seven. Isla Isabela. Or is it day eight? The days seem to merge with one another out here in the Galapagos. We sit in Tainui’s cockpit in this lovely, protected anchorage and watch…

  Thanks to John and Tainui, we have just spent two wonderful weeks in the fabled islands of the Galapagos, and found them every bit as romantic and astonishing as promised. The boys have adequately…

If you sail across oceans you get to know your seabirds. At least, the major groups. Of course, sorting out one species of petrel from another can be well nigh impossible unless you’re an expert,…